Reacting to the alleged mob lynching of a 28-year-old man in Rajasthan's Alwar district, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said it reflected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "brutal 'New India'" where "humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die". Taking umbrage to his remarks, BJP leaders hit back and called him a "merchant of hate".

Gandhi's tweet came in response to reports that policemen in Alwar took nearly three-and-a-half-hours to take the victim, Rakbar Khan, to the hospital that was located four kilometres away.

The police, reportedly, first took the seized cows to a shelter, took Khan to the police station to change his clothes, stopped for tea before taking him to the hospital. The FIR in the case revealed that the police received a call at about 12.41 am but they arrived at the spot at 1.15 or 1.20 am.

Policemen in #Alwar took 3 hrs to get a dying Rakbar Khan, the victim of a lynch mob, to a hospital just 6 KM away.

Why?

They took a tea-break enroute.

This is Modi’s brutal “New India” where humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die. https://t.co/sNdzX6eVSU

The Congress chief's tweet came shortly after the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a contempt plea against the Vasundhara Raje-led Rajasthan government on 28 August in connection with the case. BJP leaders hit back In response to Gandhi's tweet, Union minister Piyush Goyal asked the former to stop "jumping with joy" every time a crime happened. Calling him a "merchant of hate", Goyal tweeted: "The state has already assured strict & prompt action. You divide the society in every manner possible for electoral gains & then shed crocodile tears."

Stop jumping with joy every time a crime happens, Mr Rahul Gandhi. The state has already assured strict & prompt action. You divide the society in every manner possible for electoral gains & then shed crocodile tears. Enough is Enough. You are a MERCHANT OF HATE. https://t.co/4thsyNL3nx — Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) July 23, 2018

Union textiles minister Smriti Irani also joined in to castigate Gandhi over his comments and said that he took every opportunity to break social bonds for electoral gains. She cited instances of riot-like situations during previous Congress government and said: "Rahul Gandhi’s family presided over the worst form of hate in 1984, Bhagalpur & Nellie & many other instances. It is shameful that he is doing the same through VULTURE POLITICS."

Rahul Gandhi’s family presided over the worst form of hate in 1984, Bhagalpur & Nellie & many other instances.

It is shameful that he is doing the same through VULTURE POLITICS.

Not a single instance goes by where he doesn't attempt to rupture social bonds for electoral gains. https://t.co/kpX3n1Kcc0

The ongoing political slugfest began after Rakbar Khan, 28, was allegedly lynched by a group of people who accused him of smuggling cows. Khan and his friend Aslam were taking two cows to their village in Haryana through a forested area near Lalawandi in Alwar district on Friday night when five men attacked them. They suspected that Khan was smuggling cows but the allegation is yet to be verified, SHO, Ramgarh Police Station, Subhash Sharma told PTI.